Victor Anichebe scores late to secure three points for Everton after a scrappy contest at the Hawthorns
Preamble: Good afternoon and a happy new year to one and all. The Premier League kicks off 2012 with the at-frst-glance-not-particularly-mouthwatering clash between 11th and 12th, West Brom and Everton. But, in fact, this could be one of those weather-vane fixtures, one that gives an idea in which direction each of theses clubs' seasons are heading. A push for a Europa League spot isn't out of the question for either, but then neither is a sad sag into a relegation battle.
Albion will drift towards the latter if they can't sort out their home form. Only two of the Baggies' wins have come at the Hawthorns, and in their nine home games they've scored only seven goals. Everton are unbeaten in three, but would have hoped for more than five points from their five matches in December. Phil Jagielka has talked about the team's need for additions this month, but hanging on to the likes of Rodwell and Coleman will be key too.
One thing both sides need is a goalscorer: in the 35 games these sides have played they've mustered a paltry 37 goals. The angel-voiced Shane Long leads Albion's scoring charts with five.
The teams are in:
West Brom: Foster; Jones, McAuley, Dawson, Shorey; Thomas, Scharner, Morrison, Brunt; Long, Odemwingie. Subs: Fulop, Thorne, Dorrans, Tchoyi, Fortune, Jara, Cox
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Neville, Rodwell, Osman, Cahill, Saha. Subs: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Gueye, Barkley, Anichebe
So has anyone made any resolutions for this bumper year of sport? I haven't yet, but I'm open to suggestions ?
Here's Roy Hodgson: "Good results always improve confidence, so we should be going into this game in a confident mood."
And here's David Moyes: "It's a tough game. West Brom are playing well at the moment."
Click-clack, click-clack ? The teams emerge at the Hawthorns, to be greeted by a bumper crowd and a steely grey sky.
ADVERT BREAK! Buy a car, buy another car, gamble, go on holiday, get a conservatory, do some DIY ?
Peep! Everton, resplendent in their gold shirts, get things underway.
1 min: Distin punts long, Saha flicks on ? to nobody.
2 min: It's almost silent at the Hawthorns. Really weird, hushed atmosphere. Osman skitters down the left and wins a throw-in.
3 min: Neville flings it in from the throw, Foster gathers.
4 min: Everton have set up in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 with Cahill and Osman pushed forward to join Saha. Jerome Thomas stands a cross up at the far post, Shorey can only head wide.
6 min: "Re. New Year Resolutions. I resolved that I will not follow MBM's of pointless mid-table football clashes this year," writes Manoj Joseph. "You can see how that turned out ... happy New Year everybody"
8 min: Heitinga pings a pass through to Foster. At the other end, Morrison overhits a through-ball into the arms of Tim Howard. It's been very poor from both sides so far.
9 min: Rodwell shows his studs to Scharner's boot. He was dangling it out there rather than thrusting it at the Austrian, but still a pretty risky challenge.
10 min: Dawson catches Saha with a flailing arm. The magic sponge does its work.
12 min: Thomas looks Albion's most potent outlet at the moment, and he's almost in on goal but gets the ball tangled between his feet.
13 min: "Is it wrong to have "Be the First Person to Give Up their New Year's Resolution" to be one's New Year's Resolution?" writes Ryan Dunne. "The latter, in my case, involving losing five stone, giving up caffeine, getting a life, and other laborious absurdities."
14 min: Everton look to have no idea whatsoever how to affect the transition between having the ball in midfield and creating a goalscoring opportunity. Though they've been equally poor thus far, that's not the case with West Brom.
16 min: Heitinga whumps a shot at goal from 30 yards out, but it travels no more than five yards before thwacking into an Albion defender.
18 min: Albion should be ahead. Long lays off to Brunt, then drifts to the back post to get on the end of the former Sheffield Wednesday man's cross. He should probably do better than nod over from close range.
20 min: Cahill whips in a cross. It's straight into the arms of Foster, but with only Saha available amid a forest of Albion shirts it would've needed to be an astonishing ball in.
22 min: Rodwell carbon copies Heitinga's thwarted long-range effort from a few moments ago.
23 min: Pass, pass, pass from Everton. Is it commendable patience? Or simply a lack of forward options? Either way, Baines has won a corner ?
24 min: ? Foster almost hands Everton the lead. Saha hooks on at the near post, the Albion keeper flaps horribly, his punch landing at the feet of Rodwell. But the keeper redeems himself with a fine block at the Everton man's feet.
26 min: Somebody at the Hawthorns has a drum. It is not doing much for my new year headache.
28 min: Cahill nods down to the onrushing Rodwell, but Scharner comes to the rescue. Corner ?
29 min: ? Baines delivers, West Brom struggle to clear. Another corner ?
30 min: ? Foster does pretty well to clear under pressure.
31 min: I hate to be negative, but this is the dullest half hour of football I've seen all season. And I've been to Portsmouth v Coventry.
33 min: "I think stewards should follow the lead of fans who bring drums into stadia by taking them aside and hitting them repeatedly," notes Ian64 on Twitter. Albion again fail to clear a free-kick, the ball breaks to Saha, but he skews his shot well wide.
35 min: Baines again sends a swerving set-piece into the Albion box, and yet again the home side fail to clear. Jagielka ends up hoiking his shot off towards Smethwick, but the Baggies look wobbly defensively at the moment.
36 min:"TC on the right-back! Big and high!" orders Moyes as Baines thwumps another free-kick forward. The fact that the Everton manager can ben heard loud and clear shows how quiet the Hawthorns has been today. Albion clear this time, but the next attack brings Everton another corner ?
38 min: ? free header for Rodwell! But he guides it wide!
39 min: "Everton's boring football I think accentuates the fact that the constant calls for them to have a striker are misleading," writes Duncan Smith. "With the possession that they have what they lack is the ball to open up a team. We're Barcelona in disguise." It's a very good disguise.
40 min: The thus-far-anonymous Odemwingie drops deep to collect the ball, but he can't quite find the charging Brunt with his through-ball.
42 min: Brunt is lucky not to go into the book for a late tackle on Cahill.
43 min: "The most boring game you've seen this season?" asks an incredulous jonathangard via Twitter. "As a blue, this half has been a sumptuous feast compared to most." To be fair, since the half hour mark Everton have turned it up a notch.
44 min: Distin makes a fine challenge on Thomas as the winger weaves his way into the box. A few half-hearted penalty shouts from the terraces, but it was an excellent tackle.
PEEP! Stuart Attwell brings an insipid half to a close.
Peep again!! Apologies. An extended 'comfort break' meant we skipped the usual half-time entertainment, the greatest of which I ever saw was at Crystal Palace, where punters attempted to chip a ball into a roofless shed. To win the shed.
46 min: OH!-demwingie. The striker gets free as Scharner nods forward, but he can only lash his shot wildly over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
48 min: "I'm not sure that either team has it in them to enliven this game," writes Ian Burch. "The pressure is now on referee Attwell to drop his customary clanger early in the second half and spark one or other of the teams into life."
51 min: Jagielka does very well at the near post, first blocking Thomas's cross, then clearing the loose ball as the vultures prepared to swoop.
53 min: "My New Year's resolution is to refrain from sending unnecessary emails," writes Gary Naylor.
54 min: The sides lump the ball end-to-end a couple of times.
56 min: Odemwingie gets the luck of a bobble and gets a sight of goal. Heitinga pokes away for a corner, which Cahill clears.
57 min: Albion move the ball around nicely on the edge of the box, the final layoff falling to Brunt, who larrups his shot well over the bar.
58 min: The first substitution: Gueye replaces Rodwell for Everton. "My New Year's resolution is to stop sending in emails mocking Gary Naylor's ridiculous emails," writes Mac Millings.
59 min: A superb ball over the top finds Brunt, but it drops to his right foot and the effort is smuggled away by the Everton defenders.
60 min: "Another of my New Year Resolutions is to try and get even more emails published than Mac Millings and Gary Naylor," writes Ryan Dunne. Jones wins a corner for West Brom ?
61 min: ? swung in by Brunt, again cleared by the Toffees.
62 min: Scharner flashes a shot over the bar from distance. There's still been just one shot on target in this game. "I defrosted the freezer yesterday, because "defrost the freezer" would have been a rubbish New Year's Resolution," writes Dave Hinton.
64 min: Moyes plays the final cards in his hand ?�Stracqualursi and Anichebe replace Neville and Saha.
66 min: "My resolution was not to have any resolutions," writes Benjamin List. "Bugger." Cahill has dropped into midfield as a result of those changes.
67 min: Osman thrusts forward only to see his shot blocked, but it drops out to Gueye who catches it sweetly but can't beat Foster at the near post. That's the second shot on target.
69 min: Brunt curls in a cross, Long can't quite get on the end of it, the faintest of faint glances drifts wide.
71 min: Baines looks to lide in a cross, McAuley clears. Corner ?
72 min: ? too deep.
73 min: Brunt, the home side's best player today by a street, gets back superbly to deny Osman on the edge of the box.
75 min: Morrison volleys over the bar as Everton fail to fully clear a free-kick.
76 min: Shorey wangs a set-piece straight out of play. This game has regressed into ineptitude once more.
77 min: Stracqualursi wriggles past a couple of challenges in the inside right channel, but his pull-back fails to find a team-mate.
78 min: Nice patient build-up from West Brom sees Odemwingie slipped into space inside the area, but he ridiculously opts to shoot from a tight angle rather than look to pick out Long in the middle. Ten shots for West Brrom now, zero on target.
81 min: Morrison skews a shot from distance well wide. Make it 11-0.
83 min: Everton are pressing now. They're looking the more likely to break the deadlock. Although that's a bit like saying one cheese sandwich looks more likely to start a progressive folk trio than another cheese sandwich.
84 min: Baines goes into the book for a cynical trip on Thomas. Stracqualursi nods clear the free-kick.
GOAL!!! West Brom 0-1 Everton (Anichebe 87) Well, well, well. I'm looking forward to that cheese sandwich's first release. Albion fall over themselves trying to clear Hibbert's cross. The ball drops to the substitute, who does very well to control the ball, then slap a shot past the falling Foster on the turn.
89 min: "Just keep it moving Bainesy, keep it moving," says, I think, referee Attwell as Everton are sluggish over a throw-in.
90 min: Replays show a horrible defensive header from Paul Scharner in the build-up to the goal ?�he was the player who nodded Hibbert's cross down into the danger area.
90+2 min: Roy Hodgson looks thunderously annoyed on the Albion bench.
90+3 min: More bad news for Albion: Brunt has hobbled off ? and he looks in a bad way ? to be replaced by Dorrans.
90+4 min: Bizarre scenes in the Albion technical area as a slumped Hodgson grimaces and repeatedly smashes his head back against the advertising hoarding. Crikey!
Peep! Peep!! PEEEEEEP!!! All over and Everton have stolen three important points. Hats off to David Moyes for brave, early, proactive substitutions.
Right that's it from me. Thanks for all your emails. Be sure to join Barry to see if Manchester City can stretch their lead at the top with victory against Sunderland. Cheerio!
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/01/west-brom-everton-premier-league
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